White House officials say President Trump has signed bill to reopen government

Congress sped toward reopening the government Monday, as Senate Democrats dropped their objections to a temporary funding bill. (AP)

AP

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

WASHINGTON --

The White House says President Donald Trump has signed a bill reopening the government, ending a 69-hour display of partisan dysfunction after Democrats reluctantly voted to temporarily pay for resumed operations.

The shutdown took effect Saturday on the one-year anniversary of the president's inauguration, but the White House maintains that Trump came out the winner in the GOP's standoff with Democrats.

The White House argues Democrats "caved" after Trump refused to negotiate with them on immigration policy until the government reopened. Democrats had been holding out for a firmer commitment to provide protections for some 700,000 younger immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children.

The House approved the bill, 266-150, hours after the Senate backed it, 81-18.

The votes set the stage for hundreds of thousands of federal workers to return Tuesday, cutting short what could have become a messy and costly impasse.

Senate Democrats reluctantly voted in favor of the bill, relenting in return for Republican assurances that the Senate will soon take up the plight of young immigrant "dreamers" and other contentious issues. Democrats from states won by Trump in 2016 broke with progressives looking to satisfy liberals' and immigrants' demands.